Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-01-19
CAPE GOD FISH-WEIRS.
Interesting Description of Their Structure
and Practical Utility.

Interesting Description of Their Structure
and Practical Utility.
The first fish weirs built in Cape
Cod waters were very crude affairs,
made of brush interlaced with laths,
and were put down thirty or forty
years ago, principally along the shore
of Sandy Point, Chatham. Later
others were built at different points
through Vineyard Sound and Buzzards
Bay. They were very slender struct-
ures, unable to stand the storms, and
the business failed to prove bonanza
About twenty years ago a similar
experiment was tried at Pamet Har-
Dor, Truro, built of poles and laths,
but this was abandoned as failure
after one seasons trial. Nothing
more was done in this vicinity at weir
building until about the year 1880,
when a trap, which had been used that
summer in the Bay Chaleur, was taken
up, brought to North Truro and put
down for a short time in the fall. The
poles Of this trap were fastened into
large rocks and kept in an upright
position by those means, instead of
being imbedded in the sand, and the
poles were hung with netting instead
of being interlaced with laths.
The venture proved success on &C
count of easy access to the Boston
markets with the fresh fish. For the
next four or five years the growth of
the business was very rapid, until now
twenty deep-water weirS can be
counted from Long FONT, Province
town, to the boundary line between
Truro and Wellheet, along the inside
shore of Cape Cod. The off-shore ends
of the traps are in water about forty
feet deep, and one hundred and thirty
poles, either oak OF hickory, from TWEEN
ty to- sixty sect long are used in the
construction of each trap. These poles
are mostly brought from Connecticut
and last about two years each. About
twenty-one hundred feet of netting,
''made in sections for ease in hand
ling" is used on each trap. Every
trap is also provided with an extra
set of netting, which is changed once a
month in the summer time. The nets
become SO badly fouled up that it
takes three horses to drag from the
water what one horse can drag back
after the cleaning is over. The nets
are thoroughly tarred each spring be-
fore being put on.
The fact that fish, when pursued or
frightened, invariably turn off shore
for safety in deep water, is taken adj
vantage of in constructing the traps
The poles are driven short distance
apart in a straight line from the shore
for fifteen hundred feet, which is called
the header. At the end of this the
poles are driven in the shape of a
heart, with the point off shore, and an
entrance on each side where it joins
the header, making it somewhat re-
semble sn arrow.
. The fish when swimming along
strike the header, and naturally turn
ing off shore for safety follow the
header until they find themselves in
side the heart, from which they seldom
escape, as they always seek deeper
water; instead of trying to get out the
way they come in. At the point of the
heart the poles are driven in a circle
and connected with the heart. This
circle, which has netting on the bot
tom as well as the sides, is called the
bowl.
For ease in handling, the fish are
driven from the heart into the bowl,
the wet bottom and sides of which are
drawn closer together and the fish
bailed into the boats by small dip nets.
At other times, when fish are plenty,
they are driven from Che heart into
the bowl, leaving the heart clear for
another school.
The traps at this place cost on an
average S5,0 each, which includes
one large sail-boat, two dories and
large tish-house two or three stories
high on the shore. The crews, con-
sisting of captain and six men, work
on what is termed ''half-lay," which
means one-half of the net receipts, after
paying freight, packing, carting and
commissions on the fish sold. The
owners take the other half, which
means dividends for the owners and
small wages for the men.
Of the products of the weirs the
mackerel is the principal dependence
Of the fishermen; next is the bait catch !
which is sold to the Gloucester fishing
vessels in shore and Georges fleets at
81. so to So per barrel, who carry it to
the fish grounds packed in ice. Until
the present year large quantities of
herring have been caught The large
mackerel only are sailed, the other
sizes, also cod and other market fish,
being shipped fresh to the commission
dealers of Boston, New York and Phil
adelphia.
Every kind of fish is taken in the
traps, from the monster sea turtle to
the electric eel and the tiny smelt
Some of the specimens found are ex-
ceedingly rare and curious. The sea-
son begins about April l and ends at
Christmas. The crews assist at put
ting down and taking up the weirs.
The amount of capital invested in this
business in the town of Truro is esti-
tod OF GO 900 ALaa.th LLa.,La.c I |